Date of Graduation

Spring 5-16-2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

College/School

School of Education

Department

Leadership Studies

Program

Organization & Leadership EdD

First Advisor

Desiree Zerquera

Second Advisor

Seenae Chong

Third Advisor

Danfeng Soto-Vigil Koon

Fourth Advisor

Nicola McClung

Abstract

This study examines how elite independent private schools (EIPSs), traditionally associated with privilege, prestige, and exclusivity, articulate their commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) within a highly competitive market. Using Critical Race Theory and Neoinstitutional Theory, this mixed-methods study employs critical discourse analysis (CDA) and corpus linguistics (CL) to explore underlying forces contributing to the observed disjuncture between the ostensive and performative aspects of EIPSs’ DEI efforts. Using the publicly available diversity statements of 31 Bay Area EIPSs, findings reveal that the DEI discourse among these elite schools often reflects market-oriented institutional logics. EIPSs tend to frame DEI as a core value proposition integral to their institutional identity and a key component of their public brand. These frames result in practices within EIPSs that treat DEI as an intellectual project removed from its political power, highlighting prevailing bureaucratic, global/world, liberal colorblind, and elite academic logics. This study not only identifies the logics present but also reveals how they are reinterpreted and enacted in ways that may hinder the realization of true equity and justice on these school campuses. Ultimately, this research highlights how market forces can create a DEI discourse that inadvertently upholds systemic social inequities within EIPSs for marginalized students, faculty, and families.

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